Retail Clinics Primed to Impact Chronic Disease Management
Recently, retail clinics have expanded their treatment areas to include chronic disease management, and new research suggests that this will have a positive effect on patients with chronic disease in the United States.
Since the Affordable Care Act was put into effect in 2010, more Americans are insured than ever before, and the demand for primary health care providers has increased and will continue to grow. Retail clinics have taken up the cause to provide primary care to the growing number of insured Americans withpositive results. Recently, retail clinics have expanded their treatment areas to include chronic disease management, and new research suggests that this will have a positive effect on patients with chronic disease in the United States.
According to arecent press release, a new study published in the September 2015 issue ofHealth Affairsindicates that “people with health insurance are more likely to have their high cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure correctly diagnosed—and to have these chronic conditions under control—than similar uninsured people.”
Senior author Joshua Salomon said that the results of the study “remind us that there is urgent need to ensure that the US health care system is equipped to provide high quality care for large numbers of people who will be newly diagnosed with a chronic disease.” These findings, combined with the popularity of retail clinics (CVS’ MinuteClinic recently surpassed25 million patient visitssince opening in 2000), mean that retail clinics are primed to have a major positive impact on chronic disease management in the United States.
